Signal system and apparatus therefor.



No. 787,393. PATENTED APR. 18, 1905. E. P. J. PATENALL & G. H. DRYDBN.SIGNAL SYSTEM AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 787,393. PATENTED APR.18, 1905.

.P. P. J. PATENALL & G. H. DBYDEN. SIGNAL SYSTEM AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W01! muse:

. electric current.

ployed. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing certrol'relays. -Figs. 4 and 5are a top plan and ATENT Patented April 18,' 1905.

FFICEJ- FRANK P. J. PATENALL AND GEORGE H. DRYDEN, or BALTIMORE,MARYLAND.

SIGNAL SYS TEM AND APPARATUS THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,393, dated April18, 1905.

Application filed January 23,

To all whom it nanny concern.-

Be'it known that we. FRANK P. J. PATE- NALL and GEORGE H. DRYDEN,citizens of the United States, residing in the city of Balti more, Stateof Maryland,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SignalSystems and Apparatus Therefor; and we do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accom panying drawings,forming a part of this specification, andto theletters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates, primarily, to an improved apparatus and systemof signaling for railwa service, although features of the invent ioi imay be used in connection with any signaling system such as areordiiiarily employed fortransmission of intelligence from. one point toanother through the agency of an The invention consists in certain novelappliances and arrangements of the circuits in connection therewithwhereby the signals are rendered more pronounced and certain, even withthe employment of relatively light battery-power, a further object ofthe invention being to provide an apparatus capableof use in connectionwith long track-sections wherein the rails are employed as conductorsinthe signal system.

Referring to the accompanyingdrawings, Figure l is a diagrammatic viewof a signaL system wherein the present invention is emtain features ofthe-invention in a signal system'such as has heretofore been suggested.Fig. 3 is a side elevation of 'one of the conend elevation,respectively, of said controlrelay.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, the invention issupposed to be applied in connection with a railway-track whereon trainsare to be run in one directiona, from, left to rightand consequently itis desirable to provide signals for indicating to the engineer of eachsucceeding train the position of a precedingtrain, at least I 1905.Serial 110.242.5599.

to the extent of indicating whether a precedof each section there aresemaphore-signals,

(indicated at S, S and S these signals being usually, as shown at S andS composed of two semaphore-arms. one, a block signal, toindicate dangeror the presence of a train in the section ahead, and the other, adistant signal, to indicate caution to the engineer or that a trainoccupies a distant sections ay the second block or section ahead. Thisarrangementis acommon one, and it will be understood that in so far asthe invention is concerned the signals themselves may be of thesemaphore-arm variety, with two arms or a single arm adapted to be movedinto three positions or a disk signal, all of which are well known andin themselves form no part of the present invention.

In convenient relation to the signals there are track-relays A A A,adapted to be operated through circuits part of which are, formed by thetrack-rails of the sections 0 (J (J from track-batteries B, B and B",re-

spectively-that is to say, said batteries are normally connected withthe track-railsand through said rails the circuit is completed to therelays to energize the relay-magnets, so as to attract'their armaturesat all times save when the track-sections are occupied by a train orfrom some other cause the batteries are short-circuited or thebattery-power destroyed, at which times the armatures of .the relays arereleased.

D and D are relays for the control of the distant or caution signals andare operated by batteries E and E through the circuitcontrollers F andF, operated by the block semaphore-arm of signals S and S the circuitconnections from the circuit-controllers cordance with the well-knownpractice con- {trollers and F are open only when the semaphore arms arein danger position, as shown, for instance, at F? in connection with thesemaphore S The circuit-controller F however, is shown without anycircuit connections, inasmuch as it is to be located in a circuitforming part of the devices at the preceding block station. (Not shownin the drawings.)

From the foregoing it will be seen that at each block-station there areprovided two relays, one of which is controlled directly by the presenceof a train in the block-section the track-rails of which form a partofthe relay-circuit and the other of which relays is controlled by theposition of the dangersemaphore-signal at the nextsucceedingblockstation. Both relays control the semaphoresignal armsthatis to say, they control the circuits which directly operate,-or which.in accordance with the well-known practice set an operating mechanismin motion, and the system shown in Fig. l is-so arranged that wheneverthe circuit controlled by the relays is broken said semaphoresignalswill move to the danger position. This arrangement is known as the-normal safety system-that is to say, the normal position of thesemaphore arms or signals is at safety,

' which position, however, is maintained only l in, the semaphoresmoving to the danger posii men, -The batteries for operating the sema-vis cleared or at safety.

"phore-arms areshown at S, and the circuits head from one slde of eachof saidbatteries to each of said circuits from its battery S canbe-completed only when the armature of the relay at that station isattracted y its magnet, the closing of the circuit at the relay A, A orA as the case may be, serving to establish directly the circuitcontrolling the block-signal semaphore; but the caution-signal semaphoreis controlled'through a branch circuit leading through the armature ofrelay D or D and also preferably through a circuit-controller F and ateach station, which is closed only when the block-signal The result ofsuch an arrangement is'that when thetraclcrelay at the beginning of anysectionis released by short-circuiting its battery through the wheelsand axles of a train in the section the battery S, controlling'thesemaphore-arm, is thrown out of action by its circuit-being broken atthe relay-A, A, or A and both semaphorearms move into danger position.When the track -'relay A for instance, is again en-- ergized by thetrain moving out. of the section, the danger semaphore-arms will movethe armature of its relay A, A or A and D for instance, has beendeen'ergi zed through the breaking of its circuit by the controller F ofthe next succeeding station, andconsequently the caution-signal remainsset and 1 the caution-signal can only. move to safety afterthe'block-signalof said next succeeding station has Inoved to safety andagainestablished the circuit through the-relay D and its ownblock-signal has also moved to safety and closed the contreller. F; r .7

"1 A. train is supposed to occupy the section C of the track, said trainbeing indicated at T, under which conditions, the signals S and S are inclear positions and all relays at these stations are closed. Signal S isshown in its danger position, because the section Q of the track isoccupied by a train, which train shortcircuits track-battery B allowingthe relayarmature 'A to fall, thereby opening the circuit governing boththe block and caution signal mechanisms. It will-be understood thatwhen: the train enters track-section C the armature or relay A willopen, and when the rear of the train clears the section 0 the armatureof relay A will close.v When the armature of relay A opens, the localbattery 8*, governing both the block andcaution signal system S is cutout at relay A thus setting both signals to the danger position, andtheupper blade or blocksignal blade opens the circuit-controller'F cutsoff the battery E from the relay Diand consequently while the relay A isclosed the upper blade only of signal S canbe cleared, the lower bladebeing left raised to give a caution-indication until the rear of trainhas passed out of tracksection (Kat which time the upper blade ofsignalS? will assume the clear position, clos ing the circuit at F to therelay D and allowing the lower blade of signal S to assumeits clearposition. i in addition to operating'track-signals the system shown inFig. L is well adapted for 1 wired in series with the track-battery B inpractice this special relay being wound with a very. low resistance-oneeighth ohm, forinstance,so asto stand normally open or to stand normallyopen so long as the resistance of the relay A? is in'the circuit; butupon the establishment of a short circuit between the track-rails, as bythe entrance of a train into the sectionlC, the entire strength of thebattery B will be exerted in the relay and;its armature will beattracted, and thus maybe utilized 'to close a local circuit, includ inga battery G together with the crossingbell G, before referred to.Obviously with this arrangement thecro'ssiug-bell will begin to ring assoon as the track-section C is occupied and will continue to ring untilthe short circuit in said section isbroken, i

In Fig. 2 ofthe accompanying drawings a to.safety position; but at suchtime the relay somewhat diiferent arrangement of the cirstrument and islocated at what is commonly known to those skilled in the art as a,cutsection, and it operates to control the trackbattery 0 as will bepresently explained.

The semaphore s is directly controlled or operated by the battery-s, andthe circuit from the battery 3* is completed to the semaphore throughthe armaturesof both the relays (f and a with suitable contacts soarranged. that said circuit is only completed when the relay a isenergized and the relay not energized, or, in other words, the re;lay-armatures must be in relatively opposite positions in order tocomplete the semaphoreoperating circuit, and as this semaphore operates-on the normal danger principle it can only be cleared when the relay(L2 is energized and the relay a not energized. The track-sectir n b isa preliminary or clearing section and is usually of only sufiicient lenth to permit an engineer to stop or control nis train while in sight ofthe semaphore. Thus a train entering the preliminary track-section 25shortcircuits the battery 0 through its wheels and axles, causing thearmature of relay a to open, thereby completing so far as this relay isconcerned the circuit to the signal clutches or magnets, andif no trainbe in the section b the semaphore will be cleared or moved to the safetyposition. As the train passes to the section .6 the relay a is opened,because of'the short-circuiting of the battery c and the semaphore 8therefore returns to danger position, because of the breaking of itscircuit controlled by the armature of relay a and consequentlyregardless of the position of the armature of relay a the signal cannotbe cleared so long as the tracksection b is occupied. The conditionsexist- .ing at this time will also be maintained until the train movesoff of the section 7) because of the action of the repeatingwelay a.This repeating-relay a is adapted through its armature and suitablecontacts with which it cooperates to establish the circuit from thebattery 0 to the track-section 6 whenever deenergized, the result beingthat whenever a train is on the section b and the magnets of relay 0;are deenergized through the shortcircuiting of the battery 0 no batterycan reach the track-section b and in addition the rails of thetrack-section b are short-circuitoperating a crossing-signal.

ed. Thus the relay 0 is deenergized and the circuit from the battery s"for clearing the semaphore-signal is broken, and said signal cannot becleared by the entryof a train into the clearing-section 6 until afterthe preceding train has moi ed out of the section b.

Theclearing-section relay a in addition to partially closing thesemaphore-operating circuit may be utilized to close a local circuit forThus the crossing-signal bellf'includes in its'circuit a battery f" andcontacts f, one of which is on the armature or the relay a and theotheris in position to cooperate therewith when the relay -magnets aredeenergized, whereby the crossing-bell will be rung and will continue toring so long as a'train remains in the clearing-section b and themagnets of relay a are deenergized.

The relays referred to in the foregoing description are of a uniformtype, and in order to make the system effective it is of primellllportance not only that they should be certain in action, butthattheir action should be easily controlled by shunting or short circuitingthei r operating-batteries. This in connection with the fact that it isdesirable to have them op crate through relatively long andpoorly-insulated circuits from a very weak battery makes it necessarythat,said relays should be extremely sensitive. The conditions underwhich the relays must operate makes it diiiicult to provide efiicientinstruments;-but in the present invention the difliculties heretoforefound to exist have been overcome, and in Figs. '3, 4, and 5arelay isillustrated, which in practice and in systems such as heretoforedescribed has answered all the demands. By referring to thelast-mentioned figures of the drawings it will be seen that each relayembodies two sets of magnets H H, located on opposite sides of the planeof the armaturelever as well as on oppositesides of the pivot or axis Hof said lever, whereby said magnets will both operate on their armature-The pivot or axis about which the'- armature-lever swings is located atone side of its center of gravity in order that it will normally tend toturn by gravity away from the magnets and will only be held against suchtendency when the magnets are energized. In the preferred constructionthe magnets H are mounted .upon and have their pole-pieces projectingthrough carrying-plates it, while the rear ends of the magnets aresupported by posts A: Said posts and plates are both mounted upon a baseif, on which the bind ing-posts h maybe located for the several circuitconnections to which the instrument is adapted.

The armature-lever H supports any desired number of spring or elasticcontact-carrie'rsI, adapted to cooperate with contacts K K, preferablymounted upon and extending through the upper portions of theplates h,but insulated therefrom. The contact-carriers I are also preferablyinsulated from the armature, for which purpose screw-threadedboneinsulators O are employed, and each support I is adapted to have acircuit-wire connected therewith through any suitable or usual means, sothat the circuit may be made or broken by the movement of the armatureand contacts before referred to.

To make the pressure on the back contact more secure, a retractileSpring P may be employed in addition to the force of gravity, suchspring being preferably located between the lower portion of thearmature and one of the plates/L, the arrangement of the parts, however,being such that the armature, contacts,'and adjustable portions of thedevice may all be illstops for arresting-the movement of the armature ineach direction. ,Thus the spring-' support I will be held under slighttension when the-armature is in either position, and its resiliency willaid very materially in inaugurating the movement of the armature ineither direction.

The pivots on which the armature turns may be of the usual typeillustrated in Figs. 4and 5, and the posts R, on which thetrunnion-screws are mounted, extend up from the base 71 within the areainclosed by the casing, as will be readily understood.

In operation the cooperating pairs of magnets H and H are preferablyconnected in the circuit in multiple with each other, as is shownuniformly in-Figs. 1 and 2, inasmuch as with this arrangement it isfound that each pair of magnets of the relay may be wound.

to a relatively high resistance twice that which would be practicablewith an ordinary relay and that they will release upon the establishmentof afshoit circuit with much greaterfacility and certainty than wouldotherwise be possible. I

Obviously the relay is susceptible of use in any of the situationsillustrated in Figs, 1 and 2, and, in fact,.its use is not limited tothesystems illustrated inasmuch as it may bein- 'corp orated in othersystems for signal-work or for otherpurposes.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is 4 i 1. In a signal system, the combinationwith a signal mechanism, anda relay embodying two magnets, and anarmaturelever pivoted therefrom and incl u'ding said magnets in multiplewith each other said circuit being adapted to be short-circuitedintermediate the battery and relay; substantially as described.

; 2. In asignal system, the combination with two oppositely-arrangedmagnets and ,an armature-lever pivoted at a point intermediate 75 asignal mechanism and a relay embodying its length and between themagnets to be swung in one direction by both magnets, ofa localsignal-operating circuit controlled by the relay, a distant battery anda relay-operating circuit including the battery and said magnets, thelatter being in multiple.'with-each,

other; substantially as described.

' 3'. In a signal system, the combination with a signal mechanism and arelay embodying two oppositely-arranged magnets located in differentplanes and an armature-lever pivoted at apoint intermediate its lengthand between the magnets, of a local circuit controlled by therelay, adistant battery included in a closed circuit with the relaymagnet's.-and means for short-circuiting thehattery; .sub

stantially'as described.-

4. In a relay for signal-work, the combinetion with oppositely-arrangedmagnets locatedin different planes, of an armaturelever between themagnets carrying armatures for both magnets andpivoted at one side ofits center of gravity and at a point intermediate its length andcontacts controlled by said lever, whereby the lever will be movedin onedirection by gravity and in the opposite direction by the simultaneousaction of both magnets.

5. In a relay for signal work, thcoinbiria-II 1 tion withoppositely-arrangedlmagnets located in difierent planes, of anarmature-lever between the magnets and carrying armatures for bothmagnets',"said'leverbeing pivoted'at one side of itscenter of/gravity tonormally tend to move away from the magnets under the influence'ofgravity and contacts controlled by the lever. I 1

IIO

6. In a relay for signal-work, the cOmbination with oppositely-arrangedmagnets located in different planes, of. an armature-lever between themagnets and carry ng armatures for both magnets, said lever beingpivoted at one side of its center of gravity to normally 2 tend to moveaway from themagnets under the influenceof' gravity, a spring-contactsupport mounted onthe lever, a contact carried thereby and a fixedcontact with which it engages,'whereby'the resiliency of the supportwill inauguratethe movementpf the lever away from the magnets.

7 In a relay for signal-work, thecombina- .tion with theoppositely-arranged relay-magnets located in ditferent planes, parallelsupporting-plates on which said magnets are mounted and fixed contactscarried by but insulated from said plates, of an armature-levercarryingarmatures for both magnets said armature-lever being pivotallymounted at a point intermediate its length and between the magnets,contacts carried by said armature-lever and cooperating withthe'before-mentioned fixed contacts and a casing bridging the spacebetween the supporting-plates and inclosing the armature-lever andcontacts; substantially as described.

8. In a relay for signal-work, the combination with the base, themagnets mounted on said base with their poles oppositely arranged and indifferent planes, of an armature-lever pivotally mounted between themagnets and at one side of its center of gravity whereby it normallytends to move away from the magnets, movable contacts carried by thearmature-lever, fixed contacts carried by the base and a removablecasing inclosing the lever, contacts and pole-pieces of the magnets;substantially as described.

9. In a signal system for railways, the combination with the track-railsconstituting conductors in the signalcircuit and a battery connectedwith said track-rails, of a relay connected with said contact-rails at apoint distant from the battery and embodying oppositelylocatedrelay-magnets in multiple with each other and an armature pivotedintermediate said magnets in position to be attracted by both of saidmagnets when they are simultaneously energized, whereby a trainoccupying the track-rails between the battery and relay connections willshort-circuit the battery and deenergize the relay-magnets.

10. In a signal system, the combination with a railway-track dividedinto blocks, signals located at the meetingpoints of said blocks andembodying block and caution signal indicators and two relays with localcircuits controlled one by each relay "for operating the respectivesignals, of a signal-circuit including the track-rails and one of saidre lays, whereby the presence of the train in the block will cause saidrelay to operate to render the danger-signal efi'ective and a secondsignal-circuit including the other relay and a controller operated bythe danger-signal of a succeeding block-station and controlling thelocal circuit which renders the caution-signal etl'ective whereby thecaution-signal cannot be cleared until the danger-signal at thesucceeding block-station is actuated.

11. In a railway-signal system divided into blocks. a block-stationequipment comprising danger and caution signals, a localoperatingcircuit for said signals and in which the signals are includedin separate branches, a relay controlling said local circuit and itselfcontrolled by the presence of a train in the block and'a second relaycontrolling the cautionsignal branch of the local circuit and itselfcontrolled from a succeeding block-station;

substantially as described.

\Vitnesses;

ALFRED GAGNEUX, T. M. ELrHINs'roNE.

